I stood in the dark, fingernails digging crescents into my palms.

I turned and left.

She'd done it on purpose. Every second of it. She'd known I was watching the entire time.

By the time I reached the Vance mansion on the west side of the city, Pamela was already there.

She sat on the couch, watching me with a half-smile that wasn't quite a smile.

I drew a long breath.

"Pamela. What do you actually want?"

"What really happened that night?"

I stared at her, unblinking, my voice shaking. "I have nothing left. Are you satisfied now?"

The corner of Pamela's mouth curled upward.

"As long as Leon still considers you his wife, I will never be satisfied."

I looked at her coldly. "Relax. I lost interest in being Mrs. Vance a long time ago."

I turned and headed upstairs.

She followed.

"Gloria, if I were you, I would've hanged myself with a bedsheet years ago. Why bother staying alive?"

The next second, she lifted her foot and threw herself down the staircase.

"Ahhh!"

The scream ripped through the entire house.

A figure came charging in and scooped Pamela into his arms.

Leon's face was ashen with fury. "Gloria! What did you do?!"

The irony was so thick it nearly choked me. "I didn't push her."

Then Hayden burst out of his room.

Leon turned to him. "Hayden, tell Daddy. What did you see?"

The boy raised his hand and pointed straight at me.

"It was her! She pushed Mama Pamela!"

Leon's gaze swung back to me. The cold in his eyes seeped through my skin and settled into my bones.

Pamela groaned, clutching her leg. "I think my leg is broken... It hurts so much..."

Leon's voice cut through the air like ice. "Gloria. Children don't lie. I didn't think it was possible, but you're still the same jealous woman you've always been."

His jaw tightened. "Clearly, you won't learn unless I teach you a lesson."

He turned to his men. "Break her legs."

They closed in on me.

The moment I saw those cold, merciless faces, every memory from the psychiatric facility came flooding back. The restraints. The electroshock. Being pinned to the ground, unable to move.

I screamed. "Stay away! Stay away from me! Help! Don't touch me! Get back!"

My shrieking stopped them in their tracks.

Leon walked over and slammed me to the floor himself.

"Still putting on an act."

He didn't believe me.

He never had.

A single tear rolled down my cheek and hit the cold tile.

One of his men raised the baton and brought it down on my legs.

Once.

Then again.